The Endless
by Amelda-kun
Summary: Jounouchi Katsuya is on his way home one snowy night, taking a short cut through a dark alley way he turns the corner and gets the surprise of a lifetime, he discovers a blood-covered body lying on the cold snow covered ground . . .
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One: What is the Meaning of This

Author Notes: Hello! I'm Amelda-kun and this is my first story to be put on So please be gentle in reviewing it. This may seem like a mary-sue to you, but belive me, I swear it won't be. .. .ever. So please read, review, and enjoy. t Also the rating might not seem right for now, but it will later on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, but I do infact own the woman in this story, so please no stealing.

Enjoy the fic!

Jounouchi pulled his scarf around his neck tighter, he was freezing, and it wasn't helping that it was snowing harder and harder by the minute. He was coming home from the Kame Game Shop, he had lost track of time. This wasn't the first time this had happened, and every time he came home late his father complained and harassed him, some times even striking him. Jounouchi decided to cut through an alleyway to make the trip shorter, he wasn't in the mood to have a beer bottle hurled at him. Jounouchi turned the corner and began to walk into the darkened alley.

Jounouchi stopped dead. In the middle of the alley laid a large mass. He approached it with caution, he was frightened, yet curious all at once. He stopped yet again when he had a clear view of exactly what this 'thing' was.

"A . . .a body. .. there's a body here . . ."he thought as his body began to shake a bit.He was terrified of morbid things, especially the dead. Jounouchi shakily went to his knees and stared at the lifeless form before him. He reached out to the figure and pulled their jet black hair from their face.

"It's a woman . . ."

Jounouchi placed his hand on her tiny wrists, she had a very faint pulse.

"I can't leave her here . . . she's still alive. I would never forgive myself if I left her die here."

Jounouchi took the woman into his arms, it was then he realized she was covered in blood. Possibly her own or someone else's. He headed for his apartment complex with the mysterious woman in his arms.

He finally reached the building. He managed carrying the woman's body to the third floor and down to the end of the hallway. He reached apartment 301 and carefully and quietly opened the door. He expected his father to be sitting on the couch or passed out on the kitchen floor.

Jounouchi entered the living room, his father was not in the apartment.

"Must have gone out to drink . . .."

Jounouchi laid her on the old beaten up couch gingerly. He was exhausted from carrying her so far.

He sat on the floor next to the couch and stared at her. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her. He could tell she wasn't from Japan, and wondered of her origins.

Hours passed as Jounouchi pondered about this situation he had gotten himself into.

The woman began to stir a bit and suddenly sat up in a panic. . . .

To be continued in Chapter two! I know this isn't that great . .but I'll try to make it my best.


	2. The Awakening

Chapter Two: The Awakening

Notes: Chapter Two! Am I actually going to finish a story? I hope so . .but any how this is the second part and I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh! But do own the woman in this! So don't sue me . . . yep.

On to the story

The woman sat there with her eye's wide open, looking in every which direction and then eventually Jounouchi. She locked eyes with him. He was drawn aback by her intense stare. His brown eyes met her intense blood red ones. He was speechless, frightened by her even.

"Where is this!" she shouted at him with a heavy Russian accent.

"J . . .Japan." he stuttered shakily.

She weakly stood up and stared down at Jounouchi on the floor.

"You found me where?"

"In the alley."

"Your name is what?"

"Jounouchi Katsuya ."

She paused for a moment and slowly looked at her hands, they were cut, bruised, and had blood stains on them.

She walked over towards the door and placed her hand on the knob.

"This place . . . it can not be stayed in . . ."

She opened the door and began to walk out.

"Hold on a second! You can't go out there like that!"

She stopped dead and stared Jounouchi hard in the eye.

"This is what you don't want to be involved in . . . leave me be . . ."

Jounouchi stood there puzzled by her words.

"But I don't want you to . . ."

"Boy! . . . I am not to be seen with anybody, let me on my own."

"But what about . . ."

"I say no! Don't remember me, never."

She shut the door behind her quietly.

Jounouchi ran to the door and opened it. She was no where in sight.

Jounouchi shut the door behind him. He felt confused by what had just happened. He didn't understand this women he had just met, and he really didn't wish too either. She frightened him.

"I never got her name."

He sat on the couch with a thud and sighed heavily. He felt there was something not right about the stranger he had encountered. Something he denied to hear, but yearned to know.

Jounouchi grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned on the television.

There was news of yet another person missing, or another person found dead. The amount of murders occurring in Domino City over the past few weeks was rising at a tremendous rate.

"People are nuts . . ." Jounouchi thought as he changed the channel. He was sick of hearing about it.

Jounouchi fell asleep on the couch that night without realizing it.

More to Come

Chapter three will come soon. I promise. So please be patient.


	3. The Realization

Author Notes: Sorry this took so long! Next chapter will be up sooner, I hope . . but any

how read and enjoy! Hopefully you'll review kindly too! Amelda-kun

Chapter Three:

Jounouchi opened his eyes slowly and stared at the ceiling as his vision became clear. He

sat up in confusion.

He was not in his home anymore, he was not on the same couch he had fallen into a

slumber on. Jounouchi found himself in a fancily decorated room, with a large, and rather

comfortable, bed.

He looked around in his state of confusion. There were people in the room with him.

"Mrs.! He's awake! What shall I do!" the younger of the three maids in the room said

whilst running out of it.

The eldest of them took a seat on the bed next to Jounouchi.

"I'd imagine you are quiet confused as to how you've ended up here . .. the Mrs. will

come in and explain everything . . ."

Jounouchi stared back in confusion. He didn't understand at all, he felt he may possibly

be dreaming.

"It's not real . .. was I taken hostage? . . .I don't understand why I'm here .. ."

The one called Mrs. walked into the room. Jounouchi recognized her instantly, it was the

woman from last night.

"Why'd you take me away?"

She snickered at his remark.

"Boy, I couldn't leave you there . .. that's not a place for someone to live within . . . it

was horribly small, filthy . . .and besides . . .I drugged you . . ."

Jounouchi stared nearly shocked.

"Dr . .drugged me! What! Are you kidding me?"

"No . .I did it while you carried my body to your apartment, .. .I felt by finding me you

had already gotten involved in my . . .situation. They saw you . . .I know that for a fact,

because they watch me all of the time, and you are now in trouble with them as well,

because you associated with me."

"Uh, . ..who is them?"

"Why the Mafia of course . . ."

Jounouchi swallowed hard at this.

"The Japanese Mafia type? . . .Or the Italian Mafia type?"

"The Italian type . . .and boy some of their hit men and hit women are rather hostile,

when you found me there in the alleyway I had just got the hell beaten out of me . . .the

lord usually sends his grandchild after me . ..but this time he sent three people to attempt

to murder me . . ."

"Why is the Mafia after you anyway? . . .What did you do to piss them off THAT

much?"

She smiled and sat upon the bed.

"I was once a member myself . . .and poked around in business I should have kept out

of, caused a lot of trouble within, . . .tried to screw everyone over, especially that

horrible grand daughter of his . . .damned if you anger her . .she's crazy, she'll kill you

without thinking. . .but any how I was working for a crime organization in my home

country, Russia, and all hell broke loose .. ..the mafia found out and my hit partner, the

leaders grand daughter, she came after me one night . . and was going to kill me . .but

she killed my husband instead . . .the little bitch ran off after I attacked her with my own

two hands, . . . every now and then she comes for me . . but it's usually one of her little

puppets . . .but any how, you are in deep trouble young man, . .. you are involved in

something horrible, . . .and I have to protect you from it . . ."

Jounouchi blinked a few times and let this all soak in. He felt rather awkward about all

ofthis.

"So their gonna kill me since they saw me with you? That's real stupid . .."

She sighed.

"They've killed every person that they have seen associate with me .. .even some of my

maids have even been taken out, and you boy, are probably going to be next . . .I'm

going to have to make sure you are not harmed. . . by the way, what are you called?

What is your name?"

"Jounouchi Katsuya ."

"Alright, Jounouchi, you will adress me by the Mrs. and the Mrs. ONLY."

"Um ...ok"

"Anyhow, you need to stay here for a while Jounouchi, . . . you can not leave this house,

and I can not stress that enough, if you leave, you will die, and that is a fate you do not

want,."

Jounouchi stared at her with fear in his eyes. She had scared the hell out of him from the

moment they had met.

"I don't want to die . .."

Jounouchi stared at her as his eyes teared up. The harsh reality had hit him like a ton of

bricks. He felt lost, over whelmed, frightened.

She stared back, with that cold dead look on her face she had since the night he first saw

her.

"Lyu'ov'! Nadyezhyea! Watch over Jounouchi! Dovyerie! Come with me! Do not allow

him to leave this house! Show him around, I have some business to take care of ..."the

Mrs. replied as she walked out of the room with one maid behind her. The two women

left in charge of Jounouchi bowed to the Mrs. as she left.

The eldest maid sat on the bed beside Jounouchi.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? If you need anything please tell me."

"I'm hungry and very thirsty. . ."

She sat up.

"I will bring you breakfast, it will be up shortly."

She left the room.

Jounouchi put his attention on the youngest maid and she smiled at him.

"Don't suppose you play Duel Monsters ..."she said taking a deck out of her pocket.

Jounouchi smiled.

"Yes, I do, and luckily my cards are in my pocket. . ." he replied pulling them out.

"Would you like to duel? It might pass the time, and make your experience here a

pleasant one." she told him with a smile.

Jounouchi nodded and shuffled his deck. . . .

To be continued in Chapter 4!


	4. Ponderings and What Not

Authors Notes: Sorry this took FOREVER. I had a sever case of writers block, and was also lacking inspiration. Here it is, this is a lot longer then the chapters before, which may or may not be a good thing . . . oh well. Read and review, enjoy. Amelda-kun

Jounouchi lay on the bed quietly staring at his favorite card, the Red-Eyes-Black-Dragon. Both maids had left the room hours ago. As he looked deeper into the card and it's meaning something hit him. The Mrs. had red eyes and black colored hair; this struck him as a weird coincidence.

"How did I not notice that before? Heh, she's like a living red-eyes. Maybe that's why she makes me feel so uneasy, but then again, her eyes are rather scary looking. You just don't see someone with red eyes everyday. It's weird but cool I guess." he thought as he placed the card in his pocket.

He rolled over onto his side and stared out the large window. The sky had began to darken, night was coming upon the area. He saw the very first stars forming in the darkness.

"Now I know exactly what that small pain was that I felt when I carried her to my apartment, . . . I can't believe she drugged me like that. . . she's so weird, yet she's trying to protect me from something that I couldn't protect myself from. . . her heart is in the right place I guess." he wispered aloud.

Jounouchi rolled around a few more times. He didn't like this place, he felt as if he was being watched all the time. He found himself staring at the white ceiling. He attempted to sit up, but he couldn't, he felt weak and tired.

The youngest of the maids entered the room and found Jounouchi lying on the bed with his eyes closed. She then took a seat in one of the chairs in the room. It was her job to watch Jounouchi, to make sure he wasn't in any danger. He rolled over and was surprised to see the maid in the room again.

"My, I thought you were asleep! You startled me a bit, . . . is there anything I can get you? Do you need anything at all?" she asked him.

"No, I'm just real tired, that's all ..." he explained.

"I see, well I'll be right here if you need anything at all . . ."she told him with a smile.

He nodded and turned his back to her. He didn't enjoy being watched like this.

Jounouchi closed his eyes.

"Lyu'ov'! The Mrs. needs your assistance! Come with me quickly!" Jounouchi heard the eldest maid say. The door was shut quietly.

Jounouchi lay there falling further and further into a deep slumber. He finally felt the ability to sleep now that he was alone.

"Finally , he's gone to sleep. . . just a bit longer . . ."

The female sitting in the tree removed the binoculars from her eyes and smirked.

"Didn't get the point, did ya bitch? . . .Heh, you don't play with this shit ..." she said aiming her pistol at the window. The young woman placed the gun in it's holder on her belt. She took a cigarette out of her pocket and lit it up, waiting for the right moment.

As she waited watching the window her cellular phone startled her.

"Fuck off, I'm on business .. ." she said to the person on the other line.

"Watch it little lady, your grandfather wants you to finish her off tonight, and everyone in the house, he doesn't want any witnesses."

"Whatever, I'll do it, I guess." she replied.

"You'd better, or old pops is gonna pop a cap in your ass. . ."

She rolled her eyes at his remark.

"Whatever . . ." she said as she hung up.

The young woman turned her cell phone off and placed it in her pocket.

She returned to watching the window.

"Can't believe she'd get involved with a teenager . . . guess when your desperate you'll take about just anything, but still sick . .." she thought.

After the young woman sat in the tree for nearly an hour she stood up.

"Note to self, . ..don't wear a leather cat suit when your going to pull a long job ..." she mumbled as she placed the binoculars in a small container on her belt. She took a deep breath and made sure the rope she had tied to the tree earlier was secure. She tied her red hair into a ponytail and took hold of the rope jumping out of the tree towards Jounouchi's window. She was able to make it to the windowsill. She released the rope from her grip and in one motion broke through the window.

Jounouchi jumped out of the bed the moment the window was broken through. He stared in shock at the young woman before him.

"Don't move, don't speak . . ." she said aiming her pistol at him.

Jounouchi stood there shakily, doing exactly what she told him.

"You sit down on the bed, NOW!" she shouted.

As he began to sit down the bedroom door burst open. The three maids stood in the doorway with large uzi guns in hand.

"Reach for the sky! Don't you touch him!" Nadyezhyea screamed.

She grabbed Jounouchi and held the pistol to his temple.

"Back off bitch, I'll pull the trigger if you come any closer!" she shouted jabbing the weapon into Jounouchi's head.

"Leave him out of this! Don't involve him!" the Mrs. shouted entering the room with a pistol in her own hand.

The red head threw Jounouchi to the floor below her.

"It's been such a long time . .." she smirked.

The Mrs. motioned for the maids to leave the room.

"Arancione, . . .you little bitch, you had the nerve to show up here . . ." the Mrs. said.

The young woman chuckled.

"I came to finish you off . . ." she said with a smile.

"Let fate decide whom will live . . ." she replied.

Both women took aim at each other.

"Time to take you out." Arancione said.


	5. The Fight

Authors Notes: Wow, another chapter, and so soon too! I think I'm on a roll here. But any how please read and review. Reviews are always much appreciated. Enjoy Amelda-kun

The Mrs. stared at Arancione with a deep hatred in her eyes. The red head stared back with an equally intimidating glare. Jounouchi stared on shocked, waiting for them to start shooting at each other.

Arancione pinned the Mrs. against the wall and placed her gun under her victim's chin.

The raven-haired woman felt the chill of the metal against her warm skin and gasped.

"Turns out the game ends here . . . such a sad thing, isn't it?" the red head taunted.

The Mrs. took her own pistol and placed it on Aranciones skin, she could not see where, but did indeed know it had come into contact with her, though Arancione chose to not notice this.

"What does it feel like to have death creeping ever closer?" she said to the Mrs. with a menacing grin upon her face. She felt she had her enemy exactly where she wanted her.

Arancione tightened her grip on the Mrs. arm, pushed her against the wall even more, and jammed the barrel of the gun hard against her captive's chin.

"I'm taking you to hell . . . perhaps you'll meet Mikilo there . . .burn in hell Barabanschikova!" Aracione screamed getting ready to pull the trigger. The Mrs. had little time to think, she pulled the trigger down hard on her pistol. Aranciones eye's grew wide as blood splattered in every which direction. She dropped her gun and brought her hand to the wound on her shoulder. She screamed out in pain as blood dripped through her fingers. She breathed heavily in pain as she put her sight back on the Mrs. and then to her gun lying on the floor a few feet before her.

"Jounouchi! Grab the gun!" she shouted at him.

He dove off the bed and took the weapon into his hands.

"You bitch . . . I vowed to finish you off, but every time I try you fuck it up! You find someway to drag me down! But no . . . not this time!" she screamed as she ran towards the Mrs. with her fist out.

Barabanschikova raised her pistol and pulled the trigger again and again. Her gun had failed her.

She found herself thrust against the wall in one quick motion. Araciones hands were tightened around her throat.

"Katsuya! . . . Kill her!" she managed to shout out.

He stood there with the gun in hand, shakily holding it in front of him.

"Kill her!" she screamed once again.

Jounouchi closed his eyes tightly and pulled the trigger.

Slowly he opened his eyes. The Mrs. held Aracione up by her long red hair. She slowly brought her over to the broken window. Aracione's expression turned from one of pain to one of panic.

"You wouldn't!" she screamed, staring into the Mrs. red colored eyes.

She attempted to push Aracione out the window, before she fell out she grabbed onto the Mrs. clothing, pulling her out as well.

Jounouchi ran to the window and was able to grab hold of the Mrs. hand.

"Save yourself Jounouchi . . . don't worry about me . . ."she said.

He stared her hard in the face.

"No, . . ." he replied. He took aim upon the younger woman who had a firm grip on the Mrs. dress. She stared him hard in the eye, he was over taken by a deep sadness, he could do nothing but stare at her.

"Finish the job!" the red head screamed at him.

"I . . . I can't do it!" he shouted.

"Kill me, go ahead, I haven't got a life to live!" she screamed.

Jounouchi stared at her blankly, he didn't understand it. How could she not value life? How could she not live? His eyes widened as they became watery, the sadness he felt had become unbearable.

The Mrs. raised her leg free from her enemy's grip and brought it down hard on Aracione's face.

She lost her grip and began to fall to the ground below. Jounouchi snapped out of his spell of sadness and pulled her up slowly.

They did not hear Aracione hit the ground.

"She's not dead . . . she'll be back . . ."the explained.

Jounouchi stared at her; she was bruised, bloody, weakened.

She limped over to the door.

"I'm moving you to another room . . . come with me . . ." she said.

Jounouchi followed her down the hallway. The new room wasn't far from his old one at all.

"You may leave tomorrow if you wish . . . it would be much safer if you did." she told him.

"Does she do that often?" he questioned.

"More often then you'd think . . . we have to replace windows far too much . . ." she replied.

"Well, I hope your safe from now on." he said to her.

"It's been like this for years, I wish she would have killed me this time, it's getting old and I don't care for fighting her anymore . . ." she said.

Jounouchi frowned.

"You can't give up your life like that, don't let her take it from you so easily." he replied.

She took a deep breath.

"I haven't anything to live for, my one love is dead, and all I do is hide from the world." she explained.

"I'm sure you have something, what about your family? Don't they need you?" he questioned.

"My parents didn't want anything to do with me when they figured out I had been working with criminals, and my sister . . . she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore and, my . . . my little Ivana . . . she was taken away from me!" she said as tears fell from her eyes.

"Was that your daughter?" Jounouchi asked curiously.

"Yes, my sister, Viveka, she has her . . . I sent her away to my sister so she could be safe at home, in Russia. I haven't seen my Ivana since she was a small baby, it's been 4 years now!" she cried.

"That must be horrible . . ." he said.

"It's far worse then horrible, . . . I can't even see her because I fear she'll be killed as well, I have nothing left to live for. My daughter doesn't need me, she's content where she is." she said.

"But Mrs. . . you could take her back." he was interrupted.

"I could never . . . now go to sleep, I want you to leave in the morning. I've already put you into far too much danger." she explained.

"Ok, but promise me Mrs. . . promise me to keep living." he said.

She smiled.

"You hold very much kindness in your heart Katsuya, don't you ever change. Now I must be on my way, my leg seems to be injured." she said.

"Ok, hopefully your not hurt too bad, that was a bad fight you went through . . . goodnight Mrs." he said.

She smiled and shut the doors to his room.

Jounouchi sighed. As much as he hated this place he had become used to it. He stared at the clock on the wall, it was a little past midnight. He walked over to the bed and sat down. He took hold of the phone on the nightstand and began to dial a number. He had forgotten about his friends while he was here.

"Yugi, it's me, Jounouchi." he said with a smile.  
"Jou! Where have you been? You've been missing for like two days! Your not hanging around with that group of thugs again, are you!" he shouted.

"No . . no way, I'll be at your house tomorrow morning Yugi. Wait for me, I need to get to somewhere else as soon as I can." he explained.

"Why? Who are you in trouble with?" he questioned.

"This is pretty crazy but, the Italian Mafia." he replied.

"The . . the Mafia! Jounouchi! I can't believe you'd do something to get into trouble with them!" Yugi said.

"I didn't do something directly, I saved someone . . ." he replied.

"Oh, someone they wanted sleeping with the fishes huh?" he said with a chuckle.

"Yes, just be ready for me to show up in the morning, sorry to call you so late." Jounouchi said.

"No, it's fine. After all me, Anzu, and Honda have been worried sick about you. But anyway I'll be waiting for you to arrive." he said.

"Good, see you in the morning Yugi."

"Bye Jounouchi, keep safe, ok?"

"Sure."

"Ok, see ya Jou!"

Jounouchi placed the phone down on the receiver.

"Hopefully I'll be back to living my old life soon, I don't want to have to hide my entire life like the Mrs. does, it's kind of a boring life." he thought as he turned the lights off in the room.

He lay down in the bed and went to sleep. He wanted tomorrow to come so badly; he would finally leave this place. He craved the freedom he once had.


	6. Jounouchi and Yugi

Authors Notes: Yet another installment in this little series. I'm so on a roll here with writing. Please read and review. Enjoy Amelda-kun

Jounouchi awoke early that morning. As he headed out the mansion door he suddenly stopped. He took one last look back before he shut the door behind him.

"I'm going to miss the people I met here . . ." he said under his breath. He slammed the door behind him shut and ran down the long walkway. He didn't stop running until he found a place that looked familiar to him. He eventually found a familiar street.

"Ok, . . . now the Kame Game Shop isn't too far from here . . ." he thought turning another corner.

The game shop had come into sight. Jounouchi ran faster until he made it to the door. He stopped to rest for a few moments. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi said sleepily as he opened the door.

"Yugi, sorry I didn't call you a couple days ago . . . I know I should have, but I completely forgot . . . sorry man." he said with a frown.

"Don't worry about it. Come in, there's some cereal if you want some . ." Yugi said.

"I'm starving. Let's eat together." he said.

Yugi nodded and walked into the kitchen with Jounouchi. They both prepared a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table.

"You looked a little panicked when I opened the door . . . are you ok? Was someone chasing you?" Yugi asked him.

"I was just leaving that place I was at, I wanted to get away as fast as I could. Something just wasn't right about that place, Yugi. Besides, I could have gotten killed last night." Jounouchi replied.

A look of concern filled Yugi's eyes.

"I was so worried about you Jounouchi, we didn't know what happened to you, and to think you almost died. . . we tried to look for you but, we didn't know where to start. Tell me, where were you?" he questioned.

"I don't even know where I was; some mansion outside of the city. This woman and her three maids seem to be the only people there. I rescued the woman from death though; she seems to think her life is worth nothing." he explained.

"That's horrible. What would make her hate herself so much?" he questioned.

"Her decisions. She thinks she has no reason to live. . . I'll never forget her Yugi. Despite the fact that she frightened me, I still admire her strength. She's seemed to hate herself for years, but has gone on living. She doesn't seem like the type to kill herself." he told Yugi.

"Then she shouldn't be in too much danger then." Yugi said taking a bit of his cereal.

Jounouchi sighed heavily.

"It's just she's in trouble with so many things. . . the Mafia's out to kill her. But she wanted me out of all the craziness so she made me leave this morning."

"Well that was a smart decision."

Jounouchi nodded.

Yugi took notice to the clock in the kitchen.

"We have to go to school in an hour Jounouchi, if you don't want to go I understand." Yugi said.

"No, I'll go. I don't want Honda or Anzu worrying anymore then they should." he said with a smile.

Yugi smiled.

"Good. They'll be happy to see you back. You'd better start getting ready. You do have an extra uniform lying somewhere around here, right?" Yugi questioned.

"Yes, I did leave one here. Good thing I forget about things, huh?" he said with a chuckle.

"I guess it finally paid off for you." Yugi laughed.

"All right, I'll be back in a bit. You don't mind if I take a shower, right?" he questioned.

"Nope, go ahead." he replied.

With that Jounouchi ran towards the bathroom.

Yugi yawned heavily and stood up. He walked into his room and threw on his uniform.

An hour had quickly passed as Yugi and Jounouchi finished getting ready for school.

"See you Grandpa! We're going to school now!" Yugi shouted heading out the door.

"Make sure to come home right after school, I need you to watch the shop for a bit!" he shouted back.

"Ok! Bye Grandpa!" Yugi said.

He and Jounouchi began their walk to school.

"Think they'll be surprised to see me back?"

"You know they will."


End file.
